Thermoplastic composite building material and method of making same

ABSTRACT

Polymer composite building materials are provided which contain about 30-80 weight percent resin, 20-70 weight percent fillers and additives, in which the fillers contain at least one bulk filler for reducing the amount of resin needed to make the building material, and at least one aesthetically functional filler for providing the building material with an aesthetic appearance. The bulk filler and the aesthetically functional filler are non toxic, resistant to bacterial attack, and have a Mohs hardness of less than about 5.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application is a Divisional of U.S. patent application Ser.No. 10/281,795 filed Oct. 28, 2002. The present application is alsorelated to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/988,985, filed Nov. 19,2001, and is also related to U.S. patent application Ser. No.10/281,796, filed Oct. 28, 2002, which are all hereby incorporated byreference herein.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a consolidated form of the commingledcontinuous filaments of glass fibers and polymeric fibers asreinforcement.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Most fence and rail materials are either traditional lumber orthermoplastics. Typical plastics in these applications are PVC(polyvinyl chloride) and polyethylene. PVC typically does not have thestrength and rigidity of wood and lumber and therefore, the rail for thefence and railing needs the steel or aluminum reinforcement channelinside the rail. These metal reinforcements are prone to corrosionattack, and lose strength in long-term endurance. Also, the problemexists as to the dark color of thermoplastic products. The dark colorfence and rail made out of PVC or other polymeric materials has not beensuccessful in the past. The products show bowing due to differences inexpansion and contraction between the two different sides of the productupon exposure of sunlight. In addition, the dark color absorbs heatreadily and the resultant uneven heat buildup causes this deformation.An additional problem is the lack of long-term stiffness of theproducts. It has limited the rail span between the posts to less thantraditional lumber.

Thus, synthetic decks, whether composed of plastic or wood-plasticcomposite materials, do not fully satisfy market needs.

Wood-plastic composite planks are produced by extrusion, and theextrusion has various limitations. Extrusion uses an embossing roll tocreate a wood grain surface. The quality of such wood grains is oftennot particularly high. Furthermore, the wood composite deck planks areheavy, since the wood composite has a lower modulus and flexuralstrength, needing a thick wall to compensate for these strength levels.In addition, the wood composite deck does not have color fastness; itchanges color from natural or gray to silver-gray over time, in anon-uniform manner when exposed to the outdoor environment.

Stucky et al., U.S. Pat. No. 6,344,268 describes a foamed palmer-fibercomposite made of a polyvinyl chloride resonance matrix with fiber andan additive which can include dyes, pigments, fly ash and mixtureshereof. The additives can be designed to provide a weathered appearanceto the building material of Stucky et al., such as a grey color, but thesuggested fillers have limited aesthetic functionality.

Accordingly, there remains a need for a building material which moreclosely simulates wood products, or which has heretofore unavailableaesthetic properties provided by fillers.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In a first embodiment of this invention a polymer composite buildingmaterial is provided which contains about 30-80 weight percent resin,and about 20-70 weight percent fillers and additives. The fillerspreferable include a bulk filler for reducing the amount of resin neededto make building material and aesthetically functional filler forproviding the building material with an aesthetic appearance. The bulkfiller and the aesthetically functional filler are non-toxic, resistantto bacterial attack, and have a Mohs hardness of less than about 5.

The biggest growth in the synthetic building materials market hasoccurred in composite lumbers for decking, boardwalk and railingapplications. The use of wood plastic composite lumbers in place oftraditional wood materials is driven by lower maintenance and betterappearance customer demands. Color is a key component in the appearanceof wood plastic composites (“WPC”). Most successful companies have aproduct line which includes four colors, namely, red, dark brown, tanand grey, to duplicate main premium woods, for example, mahogany, redcedar, oak, etc. Companies with only one or two colors enjoy only alimited market share. The ideal color mix is estimated to be 70% darkcolors such as dark brown or red and 30% clear colors such as grey andtan. The use of industrial pigments to obtain dark colors represents asignificant component of the raw material cost. Industrial pigments madeof iron oxide usually cost about $1.50 per pound while other pigmentscan be as expensive as about $4.00 per pound.

The present invention replaces industrial pigments and dyes to the useof low cost fillers and provides plastic composite building materialswith permanent colors relatively inexpensively. In addition, the presentinvention can provide a grain or surface texture component to theappearance of plastic composite lumbers. While many companies havestarted to engrave or emboss the plastic composite products to duplicatea wood grain, such techniques are expensive and time consuming. Even so,wood plastic composites with a low wood flower content tend to have avery plastic appearance, while wood plastic composites with a high woodflower content usually have a better touch and appearance due to thewood particles, which appear at the surface of these products. Thepresent invention also attempts to achieve a unique grain, surfacetexture and touch by using aesthetically functional fillers.

Wood plastic composites refer to any composite that contains wood suchas wood flower or wood fiber and plastic such as polyethylene,polypropylene, polyvinyl or polyvinyl chloride. The WPC industry hasgrown dramatically in the past ten years in North America. Mainapplications include decking, railing, boardwalk, porch, park benchseats and wood trim which have accounted for more than about 500 millionin sales in 2003. The use of wood plastic composites in place oftraditional wood materials is driven by the characteristics of betterresistance to moisture and rot, better resistance to insects, lessroutine maintenance, no cracking, splitting, warping, or splintering.

Today the main advantages of organic natural filler such as wood flowerare their availability, their weight and their cost. Wood flower is alsoless abrasive to processing equipment than most conventional fillers.For many years the plastic industry was reluctant to use wood or othernatural fillers, such as kenaf or flax, due to their low bulk dustdensity, low thermostability and tendency to absorb moisture. While thisperspective has changed in the last ten years due to the success ofseveral wood plastic composite products, wood flower and wood fiber arestill sensitive to moisture absorption, fungi attack and decay. This isdue to high wood loadings of generally between 30 and 70 weight percentfor reducing costs and to the perocity left in the product, whichprovides a path for water penetration and fungal attack. The surface ofwood plastic composites is covered by many unprotected wood particles,which are not encapsulated by plastic and thus are subject to attack bydecay, fungi and moisture.

Complete encapsulation of wood flower by plastic to prevent moistureabsorption and fungal attack is not practical for cost reasons,generally, it would require a high percentage of plastic to fullyencapsulate the wood particles, and aesthetic reasons, the resultingfinish would look too much like a plastic. Wood polymer composites withtoo much plastic feel more like plastic than wood and are notappreciated by customers. Successful companies have developed woodpolymer composites with high wood loading of generally between 50 and 60weight percent. To account for wood sensitivity to moisture absorptionand bacterial growth, manufactures of high wood loading buildingcomponents rely on the use of extensive anti-bacterial agents to limitthe growth of fungi and algae at the surface of these products. The useof these anti-bacterial agents does not guarantee that the products willbe maintenance free and does not prevent infiltration of water into theproduct, physical and photochemical degradation. The product appearanceis likely to change within a few months or years and colors may beaffected first. The present invention contemplates the replacement orpartial replacement of wood flower or fiber by inorganic fillers todevelop a more stable plastic composite building material which is lesssensitive to moisture absorption, fungal attack, and change inappearance and color.

The use of mineral fillers and plastic composite lumbers is not new.Century Board, Inc., a licensee of Ecomat, Inc., has developed a plasticcomposite lumber that contains 70 weight percent fly ash. The resin is amodified polyester-polyurethane thermoset that can be foamed to produceproducts with similar density, stiffness and toughness of wood products.See U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,604,266; 5,508,315; and 5,369,147, which are herebyincorporated by reference. The Ecomat building materials describe theuse of fly ash and several other mineral fillers with apolyester-polyurethane resin to produce foamed plastic composites forbuilding applications. However, fly ash derive from waste incineratorswhich is some of the most inexpensive fly ash available, is notgenerally safe and has a high content of heavy metals.

The present invention therefore employees different fillers which can beblended together to optimize the mechanical properties, color andtexture. These fillers can be optimized for loading and machinethroughput. For example, clays can be used to significantly improveimpact strength and mechanical properties due to their high aspect ratioand limited particle size, for example Dixie® Clay from R T Vanderbilthas an average particle size of less than about 0.5 microns, and isdesirable. But the amount of clay in the resin is limited due to itsimpact on melt viscosity. On the other hand, fly ash can be added, suchas Class F fly ash derived from a coal fired power plant can be added tosubmit any significant percentage to the resin without dramaticincreases in viscosity due to spherical shape and wide sizedistribution. Class F fly ash can act as a ball bearing to improvemachine throughput and is desirable.

In further embodiments of this invention, low cost color fillers can beadded to the plastic composite building materials to provide lastingcolors similar to premium woods, such as mahogany red cedar, oak orcherry. Such aesthetic fillers can also achieve another purpose, such asto provide a unique grain, and surface texture, that is aestheticallyattractive.

The present invention provides a method for making polymer compositedecking including providing commingled glass fibers and thermoplasticfibers, in which the thermoplastic fibers have a melt index of about 2,heating the thermoplastic fibers and the glass fibers to at leastpartially melt the thermoplastic fibers and consolidate them with theglass fibers, forming the consolidated glass fibers and thermoplasticfibers in a tool deforming shape decking member and cooling theresulting shape decking member wherein the shape decking member has aflexural modulus of at least 400,000 PSI. Other methods are described inwhich glass fibers and the thermoplastic resin are combined to produce asimilar decking member, and a railing component is provided having athermoplastic matrix containing polyethylene, polypropylene, HMPE or acombination thereof, and a flexural modulus of at least 400,000 PSI. Thefencing rail can be a rail or post, for example, and can include a capstock or a dark color, or both. Biological attack. The mineral fillersused in the composite of this invention can be hydrated, such as hydrouscaoline clay such that a vapor is released during the compounding andmolding process that can be used to form the composite. Water chemicallybound to a mineral filler of this invention can be released when thecomposite is subject to excess heat and can also act as a fireretardant.

This invention also provides a process for making a polymer compositebuilding materials which includes the steps of providing a resin and aplurality of fillers and additives, said fillers comprising at leastaesthetically functional filler for providing the building material witha desired aesthetic appearance and a bulk filler for reducing the amountof resin needed to make the building material. The method furtherincludes the step of mixing the resin fillers and additives and finally,melt processing the resin fillers and additives into a shaped articleuseful in making a building material. Several processes such as casting,molding, extrusion, co-extrusion, injection molding, co-injectionmolding, etc. can be used to produce the plastic composite productsaccording to this invention. If co-extrusion or co-injection processesare used, the surface of the composite, generally a skin layer of about{fraction (1/16)}-¼ inch can have a different composition than thecenter of the composite, or the core. The plastic composite buildingmaterial of this invention can be embossed, engraved or cast in atextured mold to duplicate a wood grain.

As noted above, there is another class of synthetic deck planksavailable, namely the PVC profile decks. Such decks are produced byprofile extrusion. In this type of production, it is often difficult touse an embossing roll to create the wood grain texture in a uniformnature on the deck surface. The pressure imposed by the embossing rolloften cannot provide a uniform force, because the surface of a hollowand three-dimensional panel responds in a non-uniform manner to theparticular force. As result, a “real wood” grain emulated surface isparticularly difficult to achieve. The PVC profile deck also has asignificant thermal expansion coefficient; installation requires care inorder to accommodate the expansion and contraction of changes intemperature. In this regard, the dark color deck panel materials havenot been practical, since the heat build-up on the surface is morepronounced for darker colored panels. Regarding color fastness, thedarker color PVC is superior to wood-plastic composites, but still hasthe tendency to lose its original color to a visible degree.Furthermore, PVC has a tendency to become brittle with aging uponoutdoor exposure, resulting in a loss of its impact strength.

The present invention serves to correct the shortcomings noted above.The deck panel produced in accordance with the present invention hassuperior resistance to color fading, possesses superior cold impactstrength, has a well-defined wood grain surface, and is lightweight.

One of the objectives of the present invention is the production of ahigh strength plastic alternative to the traditional wrought iron oraluminum ornamental rail and fence. Metal fences and rails areconstantly under the threat of corrosion attack, and need periodicpainting. To date, there have not been any non-composite products withthe necessary performance properties and aesthetic appearance comparableto these metal products. In that sense, there have not been anythermoplastic composite products in the market. The present inventiondiscloses thermoplastic composite products that resemble wrought iron,and aluminum wrought iron alternative, but are maintenance-free,kink-free, light and perform equally as well.

An additional objective is to make the dark color thermoplastic post andrail fence (e.g., split post and rails) possible. The fiberglassreinforcement stabilizes the uneven contraction and expansion, in spiteof different heat buildup on the surface.

A further objective of the present invention is providing non-metallicheavy duty rail and fence systems for use in industrial and commercialapplications. The metallic railing in an industrial atmosphere is oftenexposed to chemical gases or acids and is prone to corrosion attack. Theintegrity of the industrial railing is critical for the safety of thosein the workplace. The thermoplastic railing system that is strengthenedby reinforcing tapes or rods of fiberglass/thermoplastic polymercomposite provides superior strength and rigidity to its metalcounterparts.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a front perspective view of a deck construction using thepreferred composite.

FIGS. 2 and 3 are front perspective views of alternative deckconstructions.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The present invention relates to a consolidated form of the commingledcontinuous filaments of glass fibers and polymeric fibers asreinforcement. The consolidation of the commingled fibers into compositereinforcement may be made in-situ during in-line extrusion of the finalend product extrudate, or, alternatively, prepared as a tape or rod andincorporated into an off-line extrusion of final product. In eithercase, the materials of the present invention are incorporated through across-head die into the polymer extrudate. In this way, the matrixpolymer encapsulates the inside and outside surface of the hollowprofile product.

Another production process is to subject these commingled fibers throughpultrusion and its die, followed by overlay extrusion of a cap stockpolymer using a separate extruder, all in-line. In this case, thecapstock polymer covers only the outside surface. The commingled fibersare heated prior to entering into the series of forming dies where theyare consolidated. In a further embodiment, a helical winding machine maybe added in order to enhance the strength in the hoop direction beforethe die entrance.

A preferred material for use in the present invention is Twintex™composite tapes, supplied by the Saint-Gobain Corporation. The Twintexmaterials are present in various forms, such as commingled roving andfabrics (unidirectional, or multi-axial woven fabric or tapes). Thecommingled roving is consolidated through a pultrusion die into athermoplastic composite tape or rod. It contains glass fibers disperseduniformly in a longitudinal direction. The polymeric fiber that becomesthe consolidation matrix may be either polyethylene (PE), polypropylene(PP) or polyesters (PBT or PET). The functional need of the end productand extrusion process will determine the fiberglass contact in theTwintex material and the volume of the consolidated reinforcement. A“standard” Twintex material contains about 40%-75% glass fiber content.

Although polyethylene and polypropylene Twintex tapes were used in thetesting of the present invention, any polymeric materials would beacceptable to be a commingled fiber with glass fiber, as long as theyare capable of being fiberized and made compatible to the intendedmatrix polymers.

A further aspect of the present invention relates to the compatibilityof the commingled polymeric fiber material with the matrix polymer ofthe final extrusion product. These materials need adhesion with eachother in order to be effective. In the testing of the present invention,a polyethylene-glass fiber Twintex reinforcement/HMPE polymer,polypropylene-glass fiber Twintex reinforcement HMPE polymer,polyethylene-glass fiber Twintex reinforcement/polyethylene polymer, andpolypropylene glass fiber Twintex reinforcement/polyethylene polymerwere used. The combinations of the polymers of the compositereinforcement and the base polymers are numerous, and may be customizedin order to meet the needs of the final product performancerequirements.

The Twintex composite reinforcement allows for the base polymericmaterial with a higher impact in both cold and ambient temperatures,lower heat expansion coefficient, higher tensile and flexural strength,as well as higher rigidity. These Twintex reinforcements (rods, tapes orfabrics) are embedded into strategic locations of the basic polymericmaterial.

In a further preferred embodiment of the present invention, a hybrid ofTwintex filaments with carbon fibers may be utilized, with thecombination providing for higher stiffness and for easier materialhandling, as well as providing for a lighter weight product as well.

The materials of the present invention may be manufactured by apultrusion process, the mechanics of which are familiar to those ofskill in the art. The process utilizes continuous Twintex fibers (rovingor yarn), and other fiber as necessary, in order to process uniaxiallyreinforced profiles with exceptional longitudinal strength. Modificationof the basic process allows for the incorporation of transversereinforcements. Important components of the pultrusion process are: (1)heating, wherein the thermoplastic fibers are melted, and (2) theconsolidation and shape forming at the tooling die, in which relativelyhigh pressure is involved.

In a further preferred embodiment, the commingled, continuous filamentsof glass fibers and polymeric fibers include from about 40%-80% glassfiber content. These commingled, continuous filaments may furtherinclude carbon fibers and/or aramid fibers. Furthermore, a bulk moldingcompound may be made out of the commingled, continuous filaments ofglass fibers and polymeric fibers. This bulk molding compound may becompression molded into particular building products, such as fence,rail, post and deck materials. The commingled, continuous filaments maybe added through, e.g., a helical winding machine.

In a further preferred embodiment of the present invention, the bulkmolding compound includes from about 20%-80% glass fiber content, or isdiluted with an addition of polymeric pellets to a glass fiber contentto 10%-20% in the final product, with a glass fiber content of about 15%preferred. The thermal expansion and contraction of the compositebuilding material is controlled by the use of the bulk molding compound.

Wood-plastic composite panels commercially available have a stiffness ofabout 100,000 PSI. In order to match that stiffness, the presentinventors incorporated one half inch to one inch long fiberglass of 10%at minimum with a profile height of about 1.25 to 1.5 inches. Thesedimensions will result in the composite material having a flexuralmodulus of about 400,000 PSI or higher. In a preferred embodiment,polymeric materials, specifically polypropylene copolymers with a meltindex of about ten and higher, and formulated with a UV stabilizer andcolorant, were tested. Note that other polymeric materials may be usedfor the purposes of the present invention, so long as such materialshave an adequate melt index. Measurement of melt flow index wasdescribed in ASTM D1238. By incorporating fiberglass in the formulationby means of a bulk molding compound, the thermal expansion andcontraction was reduced so that the dark brown color was no longerpresent. The thermal coefficient of linear expansion was reduced by morethan ⅙, to about 1×10⁻⁵ inch/inch/° F. for the polypropylene copolymer.In reference to the figures, FIGS. 1 and 3 and FIG. 2 demonstratediffering ways by which the panels may be fastened to the substructure.In FIG. 2, screw fasteners 21 on the top of composite 20 provide thefastening function; relative to composites 10 and 30 as shown in FIGS. 1and 3 respectively, a concealed fastener 14 with pin 11 is formulated tokey into the side hole 12 of composite panel 10, and screwed into thesubstructure joist by screw 13. The pins act as spacers, while theconcealed fasteners are necessary for the tiles.

Note that the preferred process for achieving the construction of thepresent invention is compression molding. The molding process provides awood grain pattern of high quality. In operation, a fiberglass bulkmolding compound is processed through a specially designed plasticator,and the billet is shuttled to a compression mold, and pressed. Notefurther that the plasticator is merely one type of compounding extruderequipped with a screw, designed to process the fiberglass in the bulkmolding compound without breaking the fiberglass. Panel lengths producedby the compression molding process may range up to about 20 feet. Thecompression molding enables the surface of the panels to have customizedpatterns, as well as slip resistance called for by various industrycodes.

Thus, the present invention relates to any walking panels or plankswhich have incorporated fiberglass of at least about V₂ inch long, atabout 10% to 40% by weight into a polymeric material of a melt indexhigher than e.g., about 2, in order to improve the impact strength forboth “under room” and cold temperatures. Walking panels or planks withthese characteristics may be made into any suitable custom colors,particularly dark colors, and serve to meet relevant building codes,performance criteria, deflection and creep resistance. Furthermore, aquality grain structure is achieved on the surface of the walking panelsor planks, thereby controlling slip resistance.

The fiberglass component of the present invention may be choppedfiberglass, hybridized with other modulus enhancing fibers. In a furtherpreferred embodiment, the walking panels or planks may have incorporatedmold-in spacers, for ease of installation. Furthermore, the panels orplanks of the present invention may be constructed of fiberglass bulkmolding compound, using a compression molding process having a concealedfastener; such materials will make cutting easier by a power driven sawor other related device.

In a further preferred embodiment of the present invention, a rail ofmore than an eight foot span between the two posts, on a sixteen footlength encompassing two sections with, e.g., three posts with a Twintexreinforcement, is a possible alternative. The use of a hybridreinforcement of Twintex commingled fiber and other reinforcementfibers, such as carbon fiber and/or aramid fibers is also possible.

Thus, the bulk molding compounds used for purposes of the presentinvention may be employed for compression molding into building productsincluding fence, rail, post, deck, etc.

While this invention has been described with respect to particularembodiments thereof, it is apparent that numerous other forms andmodifications of this invention will be obvious to those skilled in theart. The appended claims and this invention generally should beconstrued to cover all such obvious forms and modifications which arewithin the true spirit and scope of the present invention.

1-30. Canceled.
 31. A method of making a polymer composite deckingmember comprising; (a) providing commingled glass fibers andthermoplastic fibers, said thermoplastic fibers having an ASTM D1238melt index of at least about 2; (b) heating said thermoplastic fibersand said glass fibers to at least partially melt said thermoplasticfibers and consolidate said thermoplastic fibers with said glass fibers;(c) forming said consolidated glass fibers and thermoplastic fibers in atool to form a shaped decking member; and (d) cooling said shapeddecking member whereby said cooled and shaped decking member has aflexural modulus of at least about 400,000 PSI.
 32. A method of making apolymer composite decking member, comprising: (a) providing glass fibersand a thermoplastic resin, said thermoplastic resin having an ASTM D1238melt index of at least about 2; (b) heating said glass fibers and saidthermoplastic resin to at least partially melt said thermoplastic resin;(c) forming said glass fibers and said at least partially meltedthermoplastic resin in a tool to form a decking member; and (d) coolingsaid decking member; said cooled decking member having a flexuralmodulus of at least about 400,000 PSI.
 33. The method of claim 32,wherein said heating step (b), forming step (c), or both, comprisecompression molding.
 34. The method of claim 32, wherein said heatingstep (b), forming step (c), or both, comprise a pultrusion process. 35.The method of claim 32, wherein said providing step (a) comprisesproviding a bulk thermoplastic resin containing chopped glass fibers.36. The method of claim 32, wherein said providing step (a) comprisesproviding commingled thermoplastic and glass filaments, and said heatingstep (b) at least partially consolidates said commingled thermoplasticand glass filaments prior to said forming step (c).
 37. The method ofclaim 32, wherein said forming step (c) is conducted under pressure. 38.The method of claim 32, wherein said providing step (a) provides a firstthermoplastic resin comprising glass filaments and a secondthermoplastic resin which is compatible with said first thermoplasticresin.
 39. The method of claim 38, wherein said first thermoplasticresin comprises continuous glass filaments, and said secondthermoplastic resin comprises chopped glass fibers.
 40. A method ofinstalling a polymer composite decking construction comprising: (a)providing a first polymer composite decking component having a topplanar surface, a bottom surface, a pair of longitudinal sides, and apair of transverse ends, said first polymer composite decking includingat least one aperture located in at least one of its longitudinal sides,and a spacer having a pin for mating with said aperture of said firstpolymer composite decking member, said spacer disposed between saidfirst polymer composite decking member and a second adjacent polymercomposite decking member for providing a uniform spacing between saidfirst polymer composite decking member and said second adjacent polymercomposite decking member; (b) inserting a fastener through said spacerand into a substructure joist, whereby said fastener is at leastpartially concealed by said first polymer composite decking member andsaid second adjacent polymer composite decking member.
 41. The method ofclaim 40 wherein said second adjacent polymer composite decking memberalso has an aperture disposed on a longitudinal side thereof which facessaid first polymer composite decking member, said spacer having a secondpin for mating with said aperture of said second adjacent polymercomposite decking member.
 42. The method of claim 40, wherein said firstpolymer composite decking member comprises glass fibers disposed withina thermoplastic matrix, said first polymer composite decking memberhaving a flexural modulus of at least about 400,000 PSI.
 43. The methodof claim 40, wherein each of said first polymer composite decking memberand said second adjacent polymer composite decking member have a cavitylocated along a bottom surface thereof.
 44. A fencing component,comprising: a polymer composite including glass fibers and athermoplastic matrix, said thermoplastic matrix containing:polyethylene, polypropylene, HMPE or a combination thereof; said fencingcomponent having at least about 10 wt. % glass fibers and a flexuralmodulus of at least about 400,000 PSI and said thermoplastic matrixhaving a melt index of at least about 2, as measured in accordance withthe ASTM D1238 test method.
 45. The fencing component of claim 44,wherein said component forms a portion of a rail or post.
 46. Thefencing component of claim 45, wherein said component forms a rail ofmore than an eight foot span.
 47. The fencing component of claim 49wherein said polymer composite is embedded into at least one strategiclocation within a basic polymeric material.
 48. A fencing rail or postcomponent comprising: a polymer composite including glass fibersdisposed within a thermoplastic matrix, said thermoplastic matrixcontaining: polyethylene, polypropylene, HMPE, or a combination thereof,said rail or post component having a flexural modulus at least about400,000 PSI.
 49. The component of claim 48 wherein said polymercomposite is disposed within a second polymeric material.
 50. Thecomponent of claim 48, wherein said component has a dark color.
 51. Thecomponent of claim 50, wherein said component has a capstock layerdisposed thereon.
 52. The component of claim 50, wherein said componenthas at least 10% of the final product.